Matt Hall

302 Acid 0005 by 302 Acid (302 acid 0005)

302 acid0005 (em:t)

Released on the recently resurrected Em:t imprint, Even Calls is the first album from Washington, D.C. trio 302 Acid. Formed of Doug Kallmeyer (samples, bass), Justin Mader (samples, projections) and Andrew Reichel (electronics), who recently released his first solo album as Gel-Sol, also on Em:t, 302 Acid are a rare musical structure. Although largely focusing on electronics, the band also incorporate real instrumentation in their music and appear very well set up to function perfectly within a live environment.

Reported to have met in some of Washington, D.C.’s most respectable haunts and brought together by a common love of a wide range of genres encompassing anything from electronica to jazz and prog-rock to classical, 302 Acid rapidly developed a sound largely based on improvisations. Following on from their debut EP, Ailanthus Altisisma, released on Hackshop Records at the beginning of 2004, Even Calls charts some interesting sonic territories, from psychedelic electronic to dark ambient, with regular injections of tonal flavours destined to bring texture into the mix.

The album opens with the expensive and lush A.I.BO.C. Here, 302 Acid work around a recurring melodic theme, starting from a gentle analogue wave and progressively adding layers (bass, drums, sonic distractions, additional melody) until it eventually disappears into a whirlwind of sounds. On Tunnel Vision and Road Trip To Tokyo, the trio continue to experiment with various beat or sonic structures, clipping subtle melodies onto infectious backdrop. Tunnel Vision is a wonderful little vignette, which begins in distortions and ends in swirls of warm arpeggios, while Road Trip to Tokyo combines treated vocal samples and an incisive bass line, evoking Future Sound Of London circa Dead Cities. Elsewhere, 302 Acid investigates beautiful ambient soundscapes not that far apart from Biosphere. Six and Mortariggus especially showcase a much more reflective and intimate sound. Melodies are caught in slow motion and sounds appear to float freely around. If Six is dreamy and spacious, Mortariggus is far more austere and cold (hence the title perhaps). Build around a distant drone that constantly evolves and changes shape, the track is slowly brought to life before being morphed into the dubbey Push Button, signalling a return to more organic grounds.

If their first EP hinted at jazz ambiences, this album is a much more diverse, yet focused, affair. With their applied electronics persistently surrounded with live instrumentations, and a fine ear for production, 302 Acid are a welcome addition to the Em:t roster and shows that, six years on from the demise of the original imprint, the label hasn’t lost any of its sharp vision. Even Calls is a superb record to get lost into.

4.2/5
(The Milk Factory)

The Wire Magazine

One of the surprises of summer 2003 was the news that the UK em:t label, which folded back in 1998, was being relaunched. The label's releases broadly worked the ambient end of the techno spectrum overlapping with outre sonic experimentaiton and field recordings. All beautifully packaged after a zoological theme. Although ostensibly a new company, em:t continue where they left off with em:t 0003 (em:t 0003CD), desribed as a packaging concept and music 'designed to reward the carefull listener'. The compilation shows their quality control is as strigent as ever. "paralysis" by gregor samsa opens impressively with goshtly voices wafting through a structure sketched out by beginner's piano. International Peoples Gang, meanwhile, return to the label fresh from remixing Beth Orton. "Fireworks", however, is an atomised pop song menaced by unpredictable bleeps of rogue technology, before it ends with a layered concrete section and an English country garden ambience of uneasy tranquility. But the standout "alabama" by Beatsystem, who first recorded for the label in 1992. Over its loping beats, a rootsy
vocal sample vies for space with waves of varispeed vocal babble - close, in fact, to the style Moby premiered on Play, only considerably more imaginative (MB)